"Why not? " from Romans 6

Today I am commenting on Romans 6:11-23 and I am asking the question “Why not?”

President John F. Kennedy, in his inaugural address said that some men look at a situation and ask, “Why?”  But President Kennedy preferred the question, “Why not?”  In saying this, he was hoping to instill a positive, forward thinking attitude in the nation.

We, too, need to ask, “Why not?”  We need to ask it in a different context, however. In our text for today, Paul answers the question, “Why not sin?” 

One of the areas that becomes a pinch point in evangelical theology is the balance between our day-to-day walk in which we all are frail and limited human beings, and our position in Christ in which we are forgiven of all our sin, past, present, and future. Paul knew about this issue; nothing we see today in the church is new. All of our blessings and all of our challenges have been in the church since the beginning.

Paul knew of the tendency of people to relax and wind up committing sin. However, in our focal passage today, he gives us four reasons not to sin. Let's look at them more closely. 

Why Not Sin? Because We Are Dead To It:

Verses 11-13 tell us that,

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

If “dead men tell no tales” as the old saying goes, then dead people don’t sin.

Have you ever had the experience of trying to type a command into a dead computer? Have you tried to make a call on a dead phone? How about trying to start a car with a dead battery? None of that could happen because the objects in question were dead!

If we are in Christ, the old person has died. Sin can’t entice that person because they are dead. Satan and all his demons can’t tempt that old person, and neither can the weaknesses of the flesh. A dead person cannot fall, and a dead person cannot fail. Why not? They are dead!

On the other hand, if we are alive in Christ, we become a new person, a person who has a fresh start and a fresh purpose. We become an instrument of righteousness and not an instrument of darkness. We become a part of the family of God and a part of His plan to bless creation.

Just as a dead person cannot sin, a new creature cannot help but follow in the path of the one who gave new life. A human child, when grown, becomes a human adult, and not some other type of creature. So, when we are born again in Christ, we should grow up to be like Christ.

Why Not Sin? Because We Are The Servants Of Righteousness:

Verses 14-18 remind us that,

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Before Christ we were slaves to sin.

Slavery is an abomination and a stain upon humanity, but it was a common state of life in the 1st Century. How did someone become a slave then? People were often sold to satisfy a debt, or as restitution for a crime. Some were captured in battle. And, the children of slaves were born into slavery.

We all know that legal slavery was abolished in the wake of the Civil War in the United States, but in truth, many people today, of all races and ethnic groups, are slaves emotionally and spiritually to forces they cannot control. The classic example of that is one who is addicted to drugs and alcohol, but other types of spiritual and emotional slavery exist today as well.

Paul said that sin is a slave master, and that those who practice sin are in thrall to it. So, how do slaves become free?

We love the idea that slaves can revolt and set themselves free, but that has rarely happened in history. Most commonly, slaves were set free by being redeemed by relatives or by an army that would defeat the kingdom which was holding their compatriots as slaves. Sometimes, it was by being set free by the owner, either during the owner's life or in his will after his death. All of these apply to us as we have been set free from sin by Christ who is our brother, our master, and our conquering hero.

Slaves were the possessions of owners and treated as chattel property. They were required to give immediate, total obedience. Jesus taught a parable about the servant who worked in the field and in the house also. He could get no rest because he served his master at all times.

Here is the fact of the matter: we were slaves of sin, but now we are the servants of righteousness. We need to obey righteousness with the same vigor as we once served sin!

Why Not Sin? To Avoid Its Poison:

Verses 19-21 teach us that,

I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!

Sin is a poison.

Why do people fear snakes? It’s not because they crawl or have scales. We don't even really fear their fangs. We fear their poison! Many nonpoisonous snakes are kept as pets, even boa constrictors, but few people have pet rattlesnakes or cobras.

 

How do these poisons work? Some attack the nervous system, and others the cardiovascular system. Some may also cause severe damage to the flesh at the point of the bite. Usually however, the effects are largely hidden until the final thrash of death. The poison works inside a person, killing them silently, the same as sin! The antidote for sin, of course, is Christ! He heals us from the spiritual death and disease caused by the poison of sin

Make no mistake, sin is a poison! It kills those without the antidote, but it also makes those who have the antidote sick! I am told that a man who raises rattlesnakes in order to milk their venom has been bitten over 300 times, and he still gets sick. So, we would do well to avoid the poison of sin. It impedes our fellowship with God, and it impedes our fellowship with people also. 

Why Not Sin? Because We Need To Produce The Fruits of Righteousness:  

Verses 22-23 say,

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sin chokes out the Fruit of the Spirit.

Before a garden can produce it must be weeded. Weeds steal nutrition from fruit-bearing plants. Weeds prevent a garden from being as productive as it should be, so weeding is hard, but it is essential.

My dad kept a large garden when I was a teen, but at least we could plow that garden with a tractor. When my wife and I were in Africa, we often saw men and boys weeding peanut fields with short, little hoes. I tried it once and it was a back-breaking, difficult, and sweaty job! Yet, for the fields to produce an abundant crop, they had to be weeded.  

Once weeded, however, a garden can be fruitful. A vegetable garden can produce abundant food. A flower garden can bless by producing beauty. A kitchen garden can enrich by producing spices. Weeds, however, can overcome these good things if the gardener allows.

Sin is a weed that kills the good fruit of holiness in our lives. The outward things of life reflect the inward things in our being. What is inside us will come out of us and our inward sin will be seen in a lack of outward fruit.

Conclusion:

Paul gave us some very good reasons why we should avoid sin.  The only thing remaining is to accept his reasons and to avoid sin. So, let’s ask ourselves, “Why not?”

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

Under New Management from Romans 6

Today I am commenting on Romans 6:1-14.

 

No doubt, we have all seen the sign outside a local business which proclaims that it’s “Under New Management.” The shop has the same name, and possibly even the same merchandise, but has different owners and staff.

 

This was done because the shop was not making money.  It was losing customers and wasn't financially viable.  The change was made to stem the loss of trade and to increase the customers.

This only works if the change of management makes a difference: in products, in prices, in service.  If there is no difference, the business won't be saved from bankruptcy. This also applies to our lives as we see in Romans 6:1-14.

In Christ We Have A New Life:

Verses 1-7 tell us that in Christ we can have a new life.

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Like a failing business, we need a new life. A rotten building must be redeveloped, not just painted.  If the current manager is failing, a replacement is needed, like firing the manager of a baseball team or the head coach of a football team. When we fail at managing our lives, and we all do fail, we need a new manager to take over.

           

Christ will give us new life if we ask Him to. While there are no hostile takeovers in God's Kingdom, Jesus is glad to take over if we will let Him. Galatians 2:20 explains this process the best: “I have been crucified in Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

 

When we receive the free gift of salvation from Jesus, we've been taken over by new management which has new plans for our life! We look the same outside but are different inside!

 

This is like two computers from the same manufacturer. They may have the same case, keyboard, and display, but the internal specifications may be very different between the two. They may look the same but have totally different performance. What is inside makes all the difference!

           

Paul taught that Baptism is a great illustration of what happens when Jesus takes over our lives. Baptism originated in the Jewish sect “Essenes” from whom we have the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was used by John The Baptist as a sign of a new beginning and a repentance from old ways of living.

 

According to Paul, when we are immersed it symbolizes death to the old life, and when we come up out of the water, we are rising to new life, like the old saying, “Bury a seed, produce a tree.”

 

In Christ We Have a New Lord:

 

Verses 6-10 teaches us that in Christ we have a new Lord.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Everyone has a lord. Everyone has a governor.   

        

It might be many different things: self, Satan, world, money, pride, power, possession. One's lord is that person's master, controller, boss; the one who has supreme power over a person. The bottom line is your lord is the one you obey!

 

 Our Lord before Christ is, in a word, sin!

 

In our natural state, before Christ intervenes, we are like an alcoholic, addicted to doing destructive things. We can promise, cry, struggle, but we have no power. We are like a SCUBA diver in the grasp of an octopus's tentacles.

           

With Jesus, we have a new Master, a new controller. We are no longer in the power of sin, and self. We have a new boss, who gives us the power to do what is right!

 

One of the keys to success in a large company or organization, is that you must know for whom you work! When we allow Jesus to save us, then we work for Him. Remember, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

 

In Christ We Have a New Lifestyle:

 

Verses 11-14 teaches us that in Christ we will have a new lifestyle.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. 

So, what is the evidence of new management in a business?

Again, in a single word, change.

 

We should see a change in the way business is done.

 

We should see a change in the attitude of the staff.

 

We should see a change in what is produced, hopefully for the better.

           

The evidence of a new life and a new Lord is a new lifestyle. If there are inward changes then that should improve outward performance.

 

I recently overhauled an old computer. I gave it more memory and better storage. It had become sluggish and unreliable, but with new inner parts, it works almost like a brand-new computer. I changed it on the inside and now it has new life, and it shows!        

 

We must begin to live as ones who are alive, not as ones who are dead. We should start to become like our new owner. We should start to speak like our new owner. We need to start to act like our new owner. What’s inside us will always come out be it good or bad!

 

Alcoholics Anonymous has a saying, “If what you say and what you do don’t match, then what you say is a lie and what you do is the truth.”

 

1 John 3:10 asserts that, “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”

 

Conclusion:

 

A business is not a building, but an owner and a staff. If you change the owner, you will change the outward results.

 

A person is not a body, but a soul. If you change its Lord, you will change the outward results.

 

This IS the message of The Gospel!

 

Every blessing,

 

Dr. Otis Corbitt

 

Our Heavenly Father from the Gospel of Matthew

Today I am commenting on the term "Father" as we find it in the Gospel of Matthew:

I was blessed to have a Godly, gentle, diligent father, who, along with my mother, loved me and my sister and raised us to be good and productive citizens. I know this is not always the case with fathers; we know that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and not every father is a good father. In my case, however, I am blessed to be my father’s son.

To illustrate this, let me relate an event from many years ago when I was interviewing with a church’s pastor search committee. The committee chairman, who later became my first deacon chairman at that church, had worked for the same company as my dad. They were in different divisions, and they didn’t know each other well, but the committee chair knew my dad by reputation. 

When a committee member asked about my personality and moral character, the chairman replied, “I don’t know him, but if he is anything like his father, he will be a good man.” My eyes always well up with tears when I remember that!

I was blessed to have a wonderful earthly father, which, as I said, many people do not. The truth is, however, we all can have a wonderful Heavenly Father, who is greater than any human father and who Ephesians 4:20 says is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

What are some things we can know about God as our Heavenly Father? Actually, the Gospel of Matthew teaches us quite a lot:

A Blessing Father:

Matthew 5:45 tells us, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

When I was deployed to Iraq and I went out with our commander to visit our companies which were scattered across Baghdad, the sergeant in charge of his security detail always had me ride with him in the first vehicle in our convoy. I suppose he saw me as a good luck charm, but I always reminded Him that God was fair to all people. It is true we never hit an IED, but neither did any of our other vehicles either.

In this passage Matthew reminds us that people are in the center of God’s heart, and He loves to bless us all and that even those who reject Him can enjoy the blessings of this world which He created for all of us to enjoy.

A Personal Father:

In Matthew 6:9-13, we read about how Jesus taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

This prayer, which we call the Lord’s Prayer, actually teaches many important things about God Our Heavenly Father. Things like:

He wants us to talk with Him! 

God knows all our needs and wants before we pray to Him, yet He still wants to fellowship with us through prayer.

He wants us to honor Him!

God is wonderful and powerful, loving and kind, just and benevolent and He always does the right thing. He deserves our praise!

He wants us to obey Him!

God is a father who really does know what’s best. When we allow Him to rule our lives and our hearts, it blesses Him, and it blesses us also. 

He wants to give us good things!

God is good and He only gives us good things. Matthew 7:9-11 says, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

He forgives us!

As I said above, we all have sinned, fathers and children alike, and we all need God’s forgiveness. It is a wonderful thing that God offers that forgiveness to all through the sacrifice of His Only, Uniquely Begotten Son, who died and rose again, and who ascended into heaven and sits at God’s right hand and who intercedes for us, the Children of God.

He helps us escape temptation!

As Paul taught the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

It is amazing how much that short prayer that is so familiar to us can teach us about God our Father, but the Gospel of Matthew has even more to tell us:

A Protective Father:

Matthew 10:29-31 tells us that God watches over His children. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

A Father Who Is Reflected in His Son:

Matthew also tells how we can know the character qualities of God. We can know what our Father is like by looking at the Son: 

Matthew 11:27 says, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

In His Gospel, John expresses this truth in this way in John 14:7, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

A Saving Father:

Finally, in Matthew 18:12-14, we learn that the Father God wants none of His children to perish: 

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”

Conclusion:

In conclusion, it is easy see from just this one book of the Bible that our God is a wonderful Father. He is great and mighty and loving, and He is more excellent than any human father could ever be. What does this mean for us, personally?

First, we need to be sure we are His children. Jesus offers us salvation and adoption into the family of God. We need to accept that offer and allow God to save us and make us His own.

Second, if we are a father or a mother, we need to imitate God as we raise and love our children. We will never be perfect parents, but we can be more like our own Heavenly Father if we submit our stubborn wills to His.

Finally, no matter who our earthly father is, no matter how good or how bad, he may be, we all have a Father in Heaven that watches over us and cares for us. Not only that, but He also has the strength and will to act for our good and our blessing.

So, let us be of good cheer, and rejoice because of the love and care of our Heavenly Father!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

All-in from Matthew 28

Today I am commenting on Matthew 28:16-20, which reads:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

As a military chaplain, I have had the opportunity to serve with all kinds of troops. Some of the most intense Soldiers I have ever known are Special Operations personnel; they are, “All in, all the time!” That’s why the entry level skill of most Special Operations units is Airborne School. When you exit an aircraft in flight at 1250ft, you are fully committed to that endeavor!

Being all-in reminds me of when the barnyard animals were debating what to get the farmer for his birthday. The chickens wanted to cook him bacon and eggs for breakfast, but the pigs objected, saying, “For you, bacon and eggs are an offering, but for us it is a real sacrifice!”

After the Resurrection, Jesus met with His disciples to give them His final guidance before ascending to Heaven. The word “All” featured prominently in His instructions.

ALL AUTHORITY:

When Jesus met with the disciples, some who were present had doubts. An old military saying is, “When in charge, take charge!” Jesus did!

He asserted His authority as the sovereign ruler of all things. Because He is ruler, He has all authority, and this is what sovereignty means.

Our government is sovereign, but its powers are limited by the Bill of Rights. Jesus, however, is King of Kings, and His authority is unlimited.

Jesus has delegated some of His authority to the church. Some people believe that Satan rules Hell like God rules Heaven. This is not so!  Jesus is ruler over all! This is why Jesus told Peter about the authority of the church in Matthew 16:18-19.  Jesus said: 

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

So, we see that the authority of the church descends from our Lord. Jesus also extends His authority to us personally as well.

We Americans are rebellious and individualistic and proud. For example, a Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew.  She asked one little girl, “What are you drawing?” The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and then said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

We forget that we, too, are under the authority of Jesus. We think we can do what we want, but we can’t. We need to remember what 1 Corinthians 6:20 says: “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”

We all need to bow our knee to Jesus as our King!

ALL NATIONS:

Jesus gave His people a mission:

He wants all people to have saving knowledge of Him.

He wants all people to understand truth.

He wants all people to be free from the lies of Satan.

And . . . He wants us to be His tools to make that happen.

To do this we must have power! The TV comedy “Home Improvement” had a running gag about “More power,” but the truth is, humans don’t have the power to accomplish the mission assigned to us. 

We do need more power, and God has provided it to us as Acts 1:8 describes: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Jesus walked day-in and day-out with the disciples, and He knew that they couldn’t do it in their own strength. He also looked down through the ages and saw we can’t do it on our own, either, so He sent us power to give us the ability to do this work.

Today, we have the Holy Spirit, the Word, our testimony and much more. We need all that He has given us, because the task is huge and difficult!

 

To do this, we, like the disciples, must go outside our comfort zone! Today, many think that Jerusalem was the disciples’ hometown. Wrong! They were from Galilee! Jerusalem was not their “home field.”

As strangers in a strange land, we never have a “home field advantage.” The only advantage we have is what God gives us. Blessedly He has given us all we need to accomplish His mission!

ALL THINGS:

We need to be “Full-gospel preachers,” not in terms of a denomination but by offering people the whole Revelation of God!

We don’t need to keep people in ignorance; they need to know the full richness of God’s love for us.

You don’t need to know very much to be saved, but you do need to know a lot to become a disciple, and our task is to make disciples, not just converts. As Paul reminds us, Psalm 47:7 says we should sing with understanding!

What is the full Gospel? Since we come to the Lord as a child, so this can’t be too hard to understand! It includes simple yet profound ideas, like:

The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.

We are to love God with all our being.

We are to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We are to obey the commands of Christ and we are to make disciples.

 

Here is one key we need to remember: Before we can make disciples, we, ourselves, must be disciples!

Doctors teach medical students; lawyers teach law students. Therefore, we must be full Gospel people before we are full Gospel preachers!

If we are not disciples ourselves, we can’t make them, and if we are not making disciples, we are disobeying our King!

We really don’t want to disobey our King. Consider Hebrews 10:24-27: 

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.

We all have things we fear, such as illness, loneliness, rejection, the Internal Revenue Service and many other things. These are nothing compared to offending the God of the universe!

ALWAYS:

We often let our fear prevent us from obeying God. We are just ordinary people and we feel incapable of doing this tremendous task. We say, “I’m no hero” and we try to duck our responsibility and let someone else do it who is “more qualified.”

I have known some heroes in my life:

Al is a father of a childhood friend. He served in the 3-4th Cavalry in Vietnam and was wounded three times in less than 3 months. He has always walked with a limp since then.

  

Chuck , who was my first platoon sergeant in the Army, was awarded a Silver Star escorting a convoy with the 4th MP Company in Vietnam.

Jeff was a missionary who had to resign because of a debilitating tropical illness he caught in Africa.

William Koehn was the administrator at Jibla Baptist Hospital and who was shot to death there and martyred.

 

Each of these folks were ordinary people:

Al had a bad temper.

Chuck had his own, stubborn way of doing things (His nickname was Crazy Harold).

Jeff was fixated on some particular theological ideas and liked to argue about them.

Bill Koehn was a mild, avuncular, unassuming man.

Yet each was a hero in his own way. And the fact is, God equips the called, He doesn’t call the equipped. 

Equally important, we can obey God and serve Him because, no matter what we face, He is always with us! He will never leave us nor forsake us! And he will help us whenever we step forward for Him.

Conclusion:

If anyone in this life has ever been “all-in,” it has to be Jesus. He gave His all so that we could have a relationship with God. The Bible also tells us that He gives us all things we need to serve God and live for Him. 

Jesus is “all in!” Are we?

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt